Ekos 1: An archangel was sent from heaven to say to the Theotokos: Rejoice! And beholding Thee, O Lord, taking bodily form, he was amazed and with his bodiless voice he stood crying to her such things as these:
Rejoice, Thou through whom joy will shine forth:
Rejoice, Thou through whom the curse will cease!
Rejoice, recall of fallen Adam:
Rejoice, redemption of the tears of Eve!
Rejoice, height inaccessible to human thoughts:
Rejoice, depth undiscernible even for the eyes of angels!
Rejoice, for Thou art the throne of the King:
Rejoice, for Thou bearest Him Who beareth all!
Rejoice, star that causest the Sun to appear:
Rejoice, womb of the Divine Incarnation!
Rejoice, Thou through whom creation is renewed:
Rejoice, Thou through whom we worship the Creator!
Rejoice, O Bride Unwedded!
- From the Akathist to the Theotokos (translated: God-bearer)
Today is the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos:
The feast of the Dormition or Falling-asleep of the Theotokos is celebrated on the fifteenth of August, preceded by a two-week fast. This feast, which is also sometimes called the Assumption, commemorates the death, resurrection and glorification of Christ's mother. It proclaims that Mary has been "assumed" by God into the heavenly kingdom of Christ in the fullness of her spiritual and bodily existence.
As with the nativity of the Virgin and the feast of her entrance to the temple, there are no biblical or historical sources for this feast. The Tradition of the Church is that Mary died as all people die, not "voluntarily" as her Son, but by the necessity of her mortal human nature which is indivisibly bound up with the corruption of this world.
The Orthodox Church teaches that Mary is without personal sins. In the Gospel of the feast, however, in the liturgical services and in the Dormition icon, the Church proclaims as well that Mary truly needed to be saved by Christ as all human persons are saved from the trials, sufferings and death of this world; and that having truly died, she was raised up by her Son as the Mother of Life and participates already in the eternal life of paradise which is prepared and promised to all who "hear the word of God and keep it." (Luke 11:27-28)
- From http://oca.org
I treasure the poetic imagery the Church offers us, seeing as how the Mystery of salvation defies all logic. I'll never truly comprehend on this side of eternity the terrifyingly magnificent white hot holiness involved in God becoming man - of being formed and carried in the womb of a human being He created, a virgin no less. I could never fathom the sacrifices Mary made by agreeing to surrender completely every aspect of her own will ("Be it unto me according to thy word."), emptying her will to be filled with divinity. How frightening and utterly isolating that must have been.
Picturing the Theotokos as the burning bush (pregnant with Fire yet not being consumed by it), an unwedded bride, redemption of the tears of Eve or the Ark of the New Convenant, provides me with at least a miniscule taste of the dumbfounding miraculousness surrounding Mary's salvation, via her becoming the bearer of God, which in turn flung open wide the door to our own. It gives me something to chew on.
Isn't it crazy I believe in all this stuff, with all my heart? The virgin birth, The Resurrection, bread and wine becoming the body and blood of Christ -it makes no sense at all. Like love itself, the Kingdom of Heaven is beyond sense - it devours sense leaving nothing behind but humble awe and a rugged rooted hope that will not quit.
These two paragraphs, from the same article on the Feast of the Dormition I quoted above, is what I'm mulling over currently:
Finally it must be stressed that, in all of the feasts of the Virgin Mother of God in the Church, the Orthodox Christians celebrate facts of their own lives in Christ and the Holy Spirit. What happens to Mary happens to all who imitate her holy life of humility, obedience, and love. With her all people will be "blessed" to be "more honorable than the cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim" if they follow her example. All will have Christ born in them by the Holy Spirit. All will become temples of the living God. All will share in the eternal life of His Kingdom who live the life that Mary lived.
In this sense everything that is praised and glorified in Mary is a sign of what is offered to all persons in the life of the Church. It is for this reason that Mary, with the divine child Jesus within her, is called in the Orthodox Tradition the Image of the Church. For the assembly of the saved is those in whom Christ dwells.
Let us enter into the Joy of this Feast, allow it to invigorate our sleepy selves - to propel us into a state of attentiveness (be it unto me according to thy word).
Rejoice star that causest the Sun to appear!
so beautiful.